Estonia Takes Over EU Council With High Tech Agenda

While Trump was debating Hillary and polls were tallying the results of the United States presidential election, the parliament in Estonia inaugurated its new government. Juri Ratas was named Prime Minister. His cabinet includes many of the already existing parties. One of the major players is the Russian Centre party. Their agendas are as clear as they have always been.

The new coalition partners expressed a desire to continue the current defense and foreign policies. Specifically, in cooperation with NATO, the Estonian government intends to see even more defense spending. Additionally, with Estonia’s presidential take over of European Union Council this year, intention with the coalition partners is to push for a high tech future.

Data movement

Ratas’ wish is for free data movement to become a fundamental freedom of the EU. This change will unlock economic growth and progress civilization. Indeed it goes without saying that Britain’s turbulent pull away from the EU will make the development and cooperation more difficult. However, a new and improved Europe will need more security to go hand in hand with beefed up high tech.

A bit of history

After the turn of the 20th century, Russians came to live in Estonia. The Citizenship Act provides requirements for naturalization. In any event, the Russian population increase has caused Estonian citizens to quickly become a minority. The parliamentary parties are mainly Russian, and even though a new government is in place, the coalition didn’t change much.

Including Russians into the government has exposed members of its coalition to disputes. Emergence of a new Russian minority party in Estonia is real. It could make exploiting the influence over the Russian-speaking population that much easier.

Ratas’ goal

The goal of the new prime minister and his coalition in the presence of the European Union Council remains dedicated to building a data driven economy. Building up data technologies, access, liability and the free flow of communication will stimulate the providence of Europe. Moreover, the research will increase, the flow of information and business opportunities will also rise.

Ideas and concise directives have placed Estonia as a critical player in the EU. The placement of this country’s objectives has set a new curve. Consequently, the influx of data and its free flow could also have negative ramifications. Legal issues could surmount. Hacking could increase significantly, not just on a private scale.

President of the EU, Donald Tusk

Donald Tusk met with the Estonian prime minister on the occasion of the take over from Malta in June 2017. Finally, the agenda was made clear and Tusk seemed happy for the new presidential body to take its place.